At Pressure Cooker Studios, we’ve always been driven by a single goal: to deliver world-class music and audio from the tip of Africa. Over the years, we’ve built out our capabilities and literally built a platform, crafting a space that serves the needs of both global productions and local storytellers. Now, we elevate our studio space with the launch of our dedicated state-of-the-art Foley stage.
James Matthes, Pressure Cooker Studios CEO says: “For us, building a dedicated Foley stage is the final piece in the puzzle of becoming a full-service music and audio studio. It’s not just for us, it’s a platform for the continent. A way to raise the quality of the work coming out of Africa, and to grow the talent creating it.”
Foley isn’t new to us, but the ability to record it at scale, with the highest level of precision and flexibility, is. This space, designed by one of the world’s best (Martin Pilchner of Pilchner-Schoustal), gives us, and the broader industry, access to a purpose-built environment tailored for the intricate, reactive art of performance-based sound.
In this article, we take you behind the scenes with our Foley artist Denys Marcel as he walks us through some of the signature sounds he created for The Witcher IV cinematic trailer, reflects on the weirdest props he’s used, and shares why silence might just be his favourite sound of all.
From pizza boxes and hot water bottles to alien kazoos and cinematic clichés, this is a celebration of the messy, magical world of Foley, and why we believe its future on the continent is just getting started.
Disclaimer: We were not involved in the creation of the original game audio. This video is used for demonstration purposes only.
What value does a dedicated Foley stage bring to Pressure Cooker Studios and the industry?
A dedicated Foley stage is quite special. It also allows us to create the best Foley work we’ve done so far. It raises our own quality and, hopefully, the overall standard of what comes out of South Africa in terms of Foley. It also creates a space for collaboration – others can use the stage, work with us, we can learn from them, they can learn from us. It really feels like just the beginning, and I’m excited.
How do you organise your stage and props for fast reactive work?
We have a dedicated storeroom where we keep all our props, categorised by material and also by use in some cases. For instance, some creaky objects make really great creak sounds, and they might not be made from the same material, but it makes sense to group them if we often use them for the same purpose. We’re constantly refining our categorisation. There’s always room to improve. We have a labelling system, and we log everything digitally on our server. That inventory tracks what we have, what we might still need, the prop type, material, and where it’s stored.
Do you record things in real-time to picture or layer them later?
It’s a mix of both. Some things make more sense to record in real-time, others work better as wild takes that are edited later. Real-time is best for performance-based actions – footsteps, cloth, complex movement. It sounds more natural to perform them than to piece them together with a keyboard and mouse.
For example, when the Witcher gets attacked in the cave for the first time, I would find a part of that choreography, loop it, and perform it repeatedly until it sounds right. Usually by the fourth loop, I’ve got it. That approach sounds the most cohesive and natural.
Then there are one-shot sounds like sword impacts, whooshes, punches, body and gravel drops. I’ll record a few minutes of variations, clean them up, cut out breaths or me announcing takes, and keep the best ones. Out of 30 takes, I might keep four. It’s faster than looping the same action over and over to picture.
Tell us about the role of silence or restraint in your work.
Silence and dynamics are powerful. As a younger sound designer, I used to push everything loud, but then I had nowhere to go when a big moment came. The limiters were already maxed out. I learnt that to make something hit hard, you need contrast. A little silence before a big impact gives your brain a reference point, and that makes the impact feel louder.
In the Witcher cave scene, restraint plays a big role. There isn’t much going on. If I were mixing it, I’d probably pull everything back to let the cloth and footsteps shine. It creates intimacy and tension. Sometimes it’s not about total silence, just using less so the right things stand out.
What’s the weirdest object you’ve ever used to create a sound?
Sometimes you need the real thing. Other times, things you expect to sound cool don’t make any sound at all. Guns, for example. And obviously fantasy creatures don’t exist, so you have to get creative.
One of my favourites was stretched cling wrap. I rubbed my hand across it, slowed it down four times, processed it, and ended up with a massive dolphin-like sound (for a big dolphin obviously). Once, we found a used pizza box in the bin, and it made the perfect latex squeak we needed. Weird and sometimes gross things like that.
What’s a sound you’re particularly proud of that people would never guess was Foley?
Honestly, anything can be anything if you process it enough. I like starting with organic Foley elements, especially for creatures. I think about what the creature looks like, how it moves, whether it’s peaceful or aggressive, and what kind of materials might suit it. Sometimes it’s squeaky doors or dragging chairs to get those screeches.
But I’m proudest of the subtle, everyday Foley. The things you wouldn’t even think were recreated. I love when people watch a scene and don’t realise someone performed all those little moments – and then I tell them afterwards, and they’re blown away. Believability and realism make me really happy.
What’s the most disgusting sound you’ve ever had to create?
I had to Foley a flying dildo for The Shakedown. Not disgusting, but definitely interesting when someone walks in on you mid-take. I ended up using a hot water bottle – perfect amount of wobble.
And some things just get filthy. On The Witcher, I poured water into a pit filled with sand, twigs, and soil, threw a drenched towel on top, and jumped in barefoot. Mud everywhere. Wet Foley is always a mess – spaghetti, slime, all kinds of chunks. For horror stabs, sometimes people use the real thing – real chicken or other food from the shops. Quite the moral grey area – we haven’t done that, don’t worry. I just punch myself, that’s usually enough.
Recently I had to make alien sounds and ended up blowing bubbles into play slime with a kazoo. Super cool, but definitely got a bit gross. My face was way too close.
Is there a sound that is notoriously hard to recreate convincingly?
Creatures, absolutely. That’s more sound design, but I always like to involve some Foley thinking. I try to picture the anatomy, behaviour, and movement, and then find real-world objects to represent those.
If something sounds like it could be real, the audience believes it. That’s what matters. The human voice is powerful too – it’s a great starting point for creatures.
And surprisingly, footsteps are hard. You need to test surface types, shoe types, then do editing, EQ, transient shaping, compression. One boot might sound great on gravel but terrible on concrete, so you change shoes mid-scene. Doesn’t have to look right, just has to sound right.
What is in your Foley toolbox that would surprise people?
Tough one. Probably the weird stuff most people wouldn’t keep. That ugly shoe you never wore, flea market finds, junk that nobody else wants.
There are loads of hidden treasures. One person’s trash really is another’s treasure in Foley. The “haven’t-seen-one-of-those-in-a-while” kind of objects.
What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve had to do with your body to get the right sound?
Punching myself until I go a bit blue. Body hits often sound better than you might think.
Minor Foley injuries are more common than people think. We’ve got a box of glass shards and rusty nails – lots of danger potential. I haven’t done anything too extreme yet. Nothing Mark Mangini-level like putting a mic down my throat. But it does get messy, which is half the fun.
Are there any famous cinematic sound clichés you secretly love or hate?
Definitely. Like the flipper dolphin sound that’s actually a Kookaburra bird. Or Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon made of cats, dogs, humans and more.
It’s a grey area between Foley and sound design. But I love a good whoosh made from sticks and rods and rope. Or the classic sword shing. Cliché? Sure. Still great.
Sand or corn flour – which is better for footsteps?
Depends what you’re going for. Sand doesn’t give you much sound. It’s too fine. You just get a thump. You need more texture – coarse sand, cat litter, fine gravel. Something with a bit more bite.
Our state-of-the-art Foley stage at our studio in Cape Town is more than a facility. It’s a platform. One that elevates the quality of media coming out of Africa and opens the door for a new generation of Foley artists and sound designers to hone their craft.
Come and check it out.
